Let The Children Play: Alternate Ending
by Stephanie18
Summary: This is the alternate ending to Let The Children Play. This was actually my first idea, but now it's the alternate. What if they didn't win?
1. It Begins

This is the alternate ending to the story Let The Children Play. This chapter is the same as the first one in the non-alternate, so if you want to skip this and get to the other ending, go to the next chapter. Okay, go on and read!  
  
It was a lazy day at the manor. Nothing exciting had happened for at least week and everyone was reveling in it.  
"What would you guys say to a day in the park?" Prue asked.  
"I'd say pack a picnic basket and call me Yogie!" Phoebe replied enthusiastically.  
"Okay Yogie, I'll get the picnic basket. Leo, you coming?" Piper asked.  
"I'm going to be busy with you know...work." Leo replied.  
"Okay then. But we should let you know that you're missing out on an excellant time." Prue told him as she picked up a blanket that would be just perfect to sit on.  
"I bet I am, but, oh, they're calling. I'll see you all later then." Leo said and orbed out.  
**  
Piper was carrying the picnic basket, Prue was carrying the blanket, and Phoebe was bouncing around picking flowers and saying "He loves me, he loves me not." as she picked the petals off the flowers.  
"I'm sure he loves you, although if he was here and saw how annoying you're being..." Prue said, her voice trailing off.  
Phoebe just stuck her tongue out at her sister and dropped the flower that she was holding.  
When they had found the perfect spot, Prue had put the blanket down and Piper placed the picnic basket in the center.  
"I think I packed too much. I mean it is only lunch." Piper said looking at the picnic basket.  
The sisters all sat down on the blanket and Piper opened the picnic basket lid.  
"No wonder why this is so heavy! There's a ton of stuff in here." Piper said and began taking out the things Phoebe had packed.  
"A frisbee, a ball, oh and there was a bunch of small stuff, so I put it all in the basket...in Prue's sassy new handbag." Phoebe said.  
"My new handbag?" Prue asked.  
"Yep. You're sassy new one." Phoebe giggled.  
"Alright. I am not letting you guys turn this into another Joey the Dog incident." Piper said.  
"Hey, yeah! You stole that stuffed dog from me!" Prue exclaimed.  
"Did not. I only borrowed him." Phoebe replied.  
"Borrowed? Borrowed is when you actually return something! You stole it!" Prue said.  
Piper felt that she needed to stop this little argument now before they brought her into it. "Look at those kids. Look how they play nice. Why can't you guys play nice?" Piper said and pointed to three little girls who were wearing identical blue and white dresses.  
"Sisters. Ah, you can't live with them..." Prue said her voice trailing.  
"You better finish that statement." Phoebe warned.  
"I did." Prue teased and took out a can of soda.  
"This is nice. Why don't we do this more often?" Piper asked staring into the sky.  
"We're busy." Prue replied.  
"We've got things to do." Phoebe answered.  
A ball had rolled onto the blanket and a boy had ran after it. He ran past the three little girls, but didn't seem to notice them.  
"Can I have my ball back?" The boy asked.  
Phoebe smiled and tossed it to him.  
The boy mumbled thanks and ran off. They watched him run and they thought that he was going to run into one of the little girls, but he seemed to not even notice her even though he was looking right at her. The boy didn't bump into the girl, so none of them said anything.  
"Prue's got a soda! I want one!" Phoebe protested.  
"Um, okay. Do you think you can move your arm to get one? And where did that come from?" Piper said and pulled out a soda.  
Phoebe took the soda and said, "I honestly don't know. No one has been playing with fairy dust have they?"  
Prue and Piper both just shook their heads.  
The little girls started to walk off with odd smiles on their faces and the sisters noticed.  
"Where are the parents?" Prue questioned.  
"I guess that's how things are these days Prue." Phoebe replied.  
"Maybe, but it still is upsetting." Prue replied.  
"If it bothers you so much then go do something." Phoebe suggested.  
"No, I don't want to go that far. I mean, they seemed alright. I'm sure they're fine." Prue replied.  
"There we go now. I was afraid that our picnic would be ruined." Piper said.  
"Our carefree picnic day? Ha. I would never let one of our carefree picnic days be ruined." Prue said.  
"Who wants to play frisbee with me?" Phoebe asked picking up the plastic toy.  
"Let's all play." Prue suggested and they all got up and started to throw the disk back and forth.  
**  
"Wow that was fun!" Piper exclaimed as she walked through the manor door carrying the picnic basket.  
The girls had just gotten back home after a long, relaxing day at the park.  
"Yeah, that was fun. Hey, I've got a date tonight, so I was wondering if Prue you would let me..." Phoebe started, but Prue interrupted her.  
"Borrow my sassy new handbag? I don't think so." Prue snatched the handbag from the picnic basket. "You taking my stuff without me knowing once is enough for one day." Prue said then went into the kitchen.  
"She's got other handbags." Phoebe said and slinked upstairs.  
Piper sighed and joined Prue in the kitchen.  
"What are you doing?" Piper asked Prue. Prue had her laptop out and was searching for something on the world wide web.  
"Just researching." Prue replied not looking up from the screen.  
"If you're looking up information about those kids..." Piper started, but Prue cut her off.  
"I'm not. I'm doing some photo research. I'm not that obsessive." Prue replied.  
"Sure you're not that obsessive. You're Prue. You are obsessive." Piper said.  
"Am not!" Prue exclaimed.  
"And stubborn." Piper joked.  
"Piper you are so funny. Ha ha ha. Now I've got to make a call." Prue said and reached for the phone, but Phoebe darted into the kitchen and picked up the phone before Prue.  
"Hey!" Prue exclaimed.  
"Sorry, I've got to call...someone." Phoebe said and left the kitchen.  
"Gee I wonder who." Piper said sarcastically.  
**  
An hour had gone by and the girls were relaxing in the living room watching some TV.  
"So, have a fun date?" Piper asked Phoebe while flipping through the channels.  
"Super." Phoebe replied and snatched the remote from Piper and started flipping the channels herself.  
"That's good Pheebs." Prue said and grabbed the remote from Phoebe and she too started to flip through the channels.  
"Yeah, excellant." Piper said and grabbed the remote back.  
"Yep. It was fun." Phoebe said and grabbed the remote from Piper again.  
"I'm just glad that you had a good time." Prue said and snatched the remote away from Phoebe.  
"Hey. That's mine!" Piper said and tried to grab the remote from Prue, but Prue was pulling it to herself.  
"No! I want it!" Phoebe said and dove across the coffee table.  
"I had it first!" Piper yelled and dove at Prue.  
Phoebe did what Piper did and they ended up tipping the chair that Prue was sitting in over. They were all laying on the floor yelling, smacking, and trying to gain possession of the remote.  
"Ahhhhh!" Prue screamed as Phoebe hit her hand.  
"Ouch! Why you little brat!" Piper screamed as Phoebe smacked Piper in the head.  
"Argh!" Phoebe said in frustration when Prue grabbed the remote from her.  
Leo orbed in and saw the three girls squirming on the floor fighting and grabbing.  
"Hey." He said over their screams. They didn't hear him. "Hey!" He yelled.  
The girls all got up and sat on their knees.  
Prue was holding the remote and Phoebe grabbed it off her.  
"Hey!" Prue said and lunged at Phoebe causing them both to topple over.  
"Oh no you don't! Don't think you can take my remote!" Piper told the two fighting sisters and joined the floor quarrel once again.  
Leo became frustrated and ripped the remote from Phoebe's hands.  
"Hey!" She yelled.  
"Would you all look at yourselves? You're fighting on the floor like animals over a television remote control." Leo said.  
"Yeah. And you just got in the middle of it. That's my remote!" Piper said and dove at Leo and they both toppled over.  
"No! It's mine!" Prue said and dove into the fight.  
"No way! I'm getting it back!" Phoebe screamed and she too dove into the fight.  
After a few very long minutes of the yelling, smacking, cursing, remote possession, and general fighting, Leo finally stood up with the remote in his hand and turned off the TV. He was completely out of breath. Leo tossed the remote onto the couch and the girls just stared at it for a minute, then they all stood up.  
"Now," Leo asked, "Can anyone explain what that was about?"  
"I don't know. All I know is that I wanted to have what Piper had." Phoebe explained.  
"Yeah, and I felt like I should have it." Prue said.  
"I felt like it was mine and that I should be the one with it." Piper said.  
"You don't think that anyone has sinned us, do you?" Phoebe asked.  
"No. Well, does anyone feel Lusty, Greedy, Envious, Prideful, Slothy, Gluttonly, or Angry?" Prue asked.  
Everyone shook their heads no.  
"Okay. Then if we aren't sinning, why did we just get into that huge fight?" Piper asked.  
"Probably pent up sister energy." Leo replied.  
"Quiet you. So, why are you here?" Prue asked.  
"The Elders were sensing some bad energy. They thought it was demonic, but it was just you." Leo explained.  
"Hey, we weren't being evil. We were just having a small tiff." Phoebe protested.  
"Sure." Leo said.  
The girls heard laughter.  
"Did you hear that?" Piper asked.  
"Hear what?" Leo asked her.  
"Yeah. It sounded like little kids laughing." Prue said trying to listen.  
"Yeah, little girls it sounded like. Oh, there it is again!" Piper squealed.  
"What are you guys talking about?" Leo asked.  
"Don't tell us that you can't hear that. The little girls laughing...hey, it stopped." Phoebe said.  
"You guys must be going crazy. I didn't hear anything." Leo told them.  
"Oh that is weird." Phoebe said.  
"I say you go and check the Book." Leo suggested.  
"What would we be searching for? Demonic Giggles?" Prue asked.  
"I do believe that Prue is right. I mean, we could've just heard some girls outside or something." Piper said.  
"Yeah, okay. Well, I've got to go check with the Elders on something. See you all later." Leo said and orbed out.  
"I think I'm going to go to bed. I'm pretty beat." Phoebe said and went upstairs.  
Phoebe made her way to her room and she thought that she heard the phantom giggles again, but shook the thought from her mind and went to sleep.  
**  
Phoebe opened her eyes and looked around. This was not her room. Phoebe looked around nervously for a bit, then stood up.  
"Hello?" She called out. There was no answer.  
Phoebe looked around and saw that she was standing on black grass and that there was no visible weather. Just very pale blue and some light fog around.  
"Hello? Is anyone out there?" Phoebe yelled.  
"Would you like to play with us?" A voice came from behind Phoebe. Phoebe turned around and saw the three little girls from the park, still in their identical dresses.  
"Play with you? I should be getting home." Phoebe said.  
"That's sad." The girl with black hair said.  
"Yes. We had built a home for you." The girl wih blonde hair said.  
"Would you like to see it before you go?" The girl with white hair asked.  
"I would love to, but I must get home." Phoebe said.  
"Why won't you play?" The black haired girl asked.  
"I would be missed at home. I'm sorry." Phoebe explained.  
"That is so sad. Play with us Phoebe. Play with us." The little blonde girl pleaded.  
Phoebe was starting to get freaked out.  
"I can't play. I must, must go home." Phoebe said.  
"We won't let you go back. We won't let you." The girl with black hair said.  
Phoebe felt six hands grab onto her arms and pull her down.  
"No!" Phoebe screamed as she hit the ground, then...she bolted upright.  
Breathing heavily, Phoebe looked round her. She was safe in her room.  
"It-it must've been a dream. A very, very horrible dream." Phoebe said to herself as she got up.  
Phoebe got dressed and joined her sisters downstairs in the kitchen.  
"Hey Pheebs." Piper greeted as she poured some coffee.  
"Oh hey." Phoebe replied.  
"What's the matter? You're usually so cheery." Prue asked.  
"Oh, I just had a bad dream. That's all. Nothing to worry about." Phoebe replied.  
"What was so bad about it?" Piper asked.  
"It wasn't bad, but it was really weird. Those three girls we saw in the park, you know, the ones Prue was obsessed with, well, they were there and they kept pestering me to play with them and when I said that I couldn't they tried to push me down I guess. Then I woke up." Phoebe told them.  
"First, I am not obsessed! Second, it was probably from being so tired and that little tiff we had before you went to bed. Just a standard dream. Nothing to worry about." Prue assured her.  
"Yeah, you're probably right." Phoebe mumbled and took a sip of coffee.  
"I hate to break the party up here, but I have got to get to work." Prue said and grabbed her bag. "Oh, Pheebs a telephone repair guy person is coming. Call me as soon as he gets here. I wouldn't trust you to deal with him."  
"And why not?" Phoebe asked.  
"Well, you would just tell him that the part that you talk into was all beepy and I don't think he would get that, so call me and I'll come right home." Prue told her. Phoebe just rolled her eyes and Prue left.  
"I would not tell him that it was all beepy." Phoebe mumbled.  
"Sorry, but I have to agree with Prue on this one. When the cable guy was here, you told him it was all fuzzy and made a sssssssssh sound." Piper said.  
"Actually, it was more of a sssssshsssshhhssssh sound. Oh, nevermind. Don't you have to go to the club or something?" Phoebe asked.  
"Now that you mention it, I do. Remember to call Prue and if not Prue than me. Just don't try to handle it yourself." Piper said and left.  
"They don't think that I can handle it. Pffffft. It's as easy as using the toaster." Phoebe said then patted her hand on the toaster and a bunch of crumbs fell from the bottom. "They can't blame that one on me!" Phoebe said and left the kitchen.  
**  
Prue was driving to work, talking to her assistant on her cellphone, and when she stopped at a stop sign, she noticed one of the little girls from the park. It was the girl with the black hair and she stood there with her hands in front of her folded and she was rocking back and forth, smiling.  
"Uh, Denise, I'm going to have to call you back...yeah, and I'll be a little late too...Bye." Prue closed up her phone and turned the corner to park her car. Prue got out and went to the side where the girl was, but she was gone. Prue stared around for a bit, then heard a little laugh and saw the little girl running down the street.  
"Wait!" Prue yelled and started to run after the girl.  
After Prue had run halfway down the street, she had lost sight of the girl and went back to her car. Prue drove to work and put the little girl on the side of her mind. She had to keep concentrated on her photo display.  
**  
Piper was at the club wiping the counter and waiting for the new bartender to show up and help. When he finally came through the door yawning, Piper sent him to tidy up the backroom.  
"If they're not obsessive stalkers, they're lazy." Piper mumbled to herself still wiping the counter.  
Piper left the small towel on the bar and went to line up some glasses when she heard laughing.  
Piper stood up and looked around.  
"Very strange." Piper said to herself.  
"What's strange?" Asked the new bartender.  
"Huh? Oh nothing. Listen, could you finish cleaning the back room, then sweep up around the stage. We need everything to be perfect." Piper said.  
"Yeah sure. Need things to be perfect for the big performace." The bartender said, then walked lazily back into the backroom.  
**  
Phoebe was laying on the couch reading a book and she felt a little sleepy, but she snapped awake. She couldn't fall asleep and let the telephone guy get away. Prue would hang that over her head for at least a month. Phoebe turned on the afternoon news and quickly changed the channel because she knew that she would quickly get bored and fall asleep.  
The doorbell rang and Phoebe shut the television off and went to answer the door and when she did, she saw the girl with white hair standing there with a small metal cup.  
"Play." Phoebe heard the girl say as she raised the cup.  
"Huh?" Phoebe asked thinking that she heard wrong.  
"Pay...for a new playground." The girl said.  
Phoebe pulled a dollar from her pocket and placed it in the cup. The girl smiled, then giggled and ran away.  
Phoebe shuddered a little and closed the door.  
**  
Prue opened her eyes. She had a sharp pain in her neck. She was laying down, so she stood up.  
"What's going on?" Prue asked as she looked and noticed that she was not in her office. She looked around and saw that she was standing on black grass and there was no visible weather. Just very pale blue and some light fog around.  
Prue heard some giggling.  
"Hello?" She called out.  
"Phoebe wouldn't play. Play with us."  
Prue turned around and saw the three little girls.  
"What?" Prue asked.  
"Play with us." The girl with black hair said.  
"I'm sorry. I can't play. I really have to go home." Prue told her.  
"Play with us. We want to play." The blonde girl said.  
"I said that I can't." Prue told them firmly.  
"We want you to stay and play with us Prue." The girl with white hair said.  
"I have to go home." Prue said.  
"Play with us Prue." The girl with black hair said.  
"Play with us forever and ever and ever." The little girls all said in unison.  
"This is getting to weird. I've got to go." Prue said and started to walk away.  
"No!" One of them screamed and grabbed her arm. The other girls followed and Prue felt the weight of three people on her, dragging her down...dragging...dragging...  
Prue snapped awake.  
"What? Who? What...what's going on?" Prue said nervously looking around.  
Prue was in her office.  
"Just a dream. Just a stupid, terrible dream." Prue said to herself and went back to arranging her photos.  
**  
There was a knock on the door and Phoebe went to answer it.  
"Hello. I'm here to fix the phone." The tall, blonde, blue-eyed man said.  
"Yeah, yeah. It's, um, in here." Phoebe said and led him to the kitchen.  
"Probably a connection probem." The man said and picked up the phone and started to look at it.  
"Yeah, connection. Um, I've got to go look at something upstairs. You'll be okay won't you?" Phoebe asked. Her mind was on he laughing that she just heard.  
"I'll be fine...hey, are you okay? You don't look so good." The man asked.  
"Yeah, um..." Phoebe looked at the name on his shirt, "Todd. I'll be fine. I've just got to go check something out." Phoebe left the kitchen and went to the attic.  
Phoebe was flipping through the pages of the Book.  
"Demonic Giggles...Demonic Laughter...Demonic...Demonic something..." Phoebe muttered to herself as she flipped through the pages.  
"Hey!" Todd called from downstairs. Phoebe shut the Book and went downstairs.  
"Yeah?" She asked.  
"Do you happen to have a...pair of scissors?" The man asked.  
"Scissors? Um, yeah. Somewhere. I'll go find them. Oh my gosh! I've got to call Prue!" Phoebe squealed and went to find her cellphone.  
"Hello? Prue? Yeah. . . Well, I'm sorry about that. . . He's been here for about six or seven minutes. . . Yeah he's already working. . . Really? That is really weird. . . Okay, sorry. . . Don't worry, I will." Phoebe hung up.  
"Do you know what's wrong with the phone?" Todd asked.  
"I'm not allowed to tell." Phoebe told him.  
Todd chuckled a little. "Not allowed to tell? And why not?"  
"My sister, she's very...door!" Phoebe exclaimed and went to get the door.  
Piper was standing there carrying one too many boxes.  
"I couldn't use my key. A little help." Piper said.  
Phoebe took a box from Piper.  
Piper put most of the boxes near the stairs, then carried one into the kitchen, followed by Phoebe.  
"Phoebe I...oh hello." Piper said to Todd.  
"Hi. I'm Todd." Todd told Piper. "Is she the sister?" Todd asked Phoebe.  
"She's one of them. There's another one...and the other one is the one who won't let me say." Phoebe told him. Todd went back to fixing the phone.  
"Piper, Prue told me that she had a..." Phoebe glanced at Todd. "Ya know, I think I'll tell you later. So, how's the club?"  
"It's fine. I left the new guy in charge until I get back. I can't be gone long though. He might close it so he can take a nap. Honestly, there aren't any good bartenders out there. If they're not st-I mean, they're mostly all lazy." Piper said.  
"I know what you mean. Well, okay. I've got no idea of what you're talking about, but I can pretend can't I?" Phoebe said.  
"I'm here!" Prue called and made her way into the kitchen.  
"Prue this is Todd, and Todd this is the sister." Phoebe introduced.  
"So, what's broken?" Todd asked.  
Prue explained to Todd what exacty was wrong with the phone and he went to his truck to get a few tools.  
"So, Phoebe said you had a dream like hers." Piper said.  
"Yeah. It was weird. The girls were there and they kept bugging me to play, then they went "The Shining" on me and I tried to leave, but they jumped me and dragged me down, then I woke up." Prue told them.  
"The feeling like you can't get away? Yeah, it happened to me too and-and then I told her that it turns out that her brother was the one who did it, so you can see what went on there." Phoebe said changing her speech as Todd walked into the kitchen.  
"We've got to finish this later. I really have to get back before the new guy buries my club. Bye." Piper said, then left.  
"You need a new wire here. If you've got twenty-five dollars on you, I could could fix it right now." Todd said.  
"Yeah. Let me get my purse." Prue said and left the kitchen. Prue came back in the kitchen with her new handbag.  
"Sassy." Phoebe said.  
"Huh?" Todd asked. He felt he was missing something.  
"Quiet Phoebe. Um, here. This should cover that new wire. What else was wrong with it?" Prue asked handing Todd the money.  
"You see this part right here?" Todd asked holding up the phone for Prue to see. "It came loose and switched and-" A vase flew off the shelf and hit Todd in the head and knocked him out.  
"Oh my god! Prue, why did you do that!?" Phoebe asked going over to Todd.  
"I didn't do it! What happened?" Prue asked. She was dumbfounded. They both were.  
"Well, that vase flew off the shelf an conked him in the head. You were standing right there." Phoebe said propping up the unconscious Todd.  
"Okay, let's just move him to the couch." Prue said and picked up his legs.  
After some dragging (they couldn't carry him) they placed him on the couch.  
"Okay, what magical force is screwing up our lives this week?" Prue asked.  
"I don't know. I'll call Piper and clean up the vase. You check the Book." Phoebe told Prue then went into the kitchen.  
Prue took a last look at Todd and went to the attic.  
**  
Piper had sent the bartender home. He wasn't helping at all and she figured that she would be better off if she did it all herself. Piper had her arms crossed on the bar and she had her chin on her hands. She sighed. She knew she should get back to cleaning up, but she was too bored. Maybe she could put on some music or...she yawned...or...  
Piper opened her eyes and looked around. She was sitting on black grass. There was no visible weather, just very pale blue and some light fog around.  
"What's going on?" Piper asked herself as she stood up.  
"We wanted to play." A voice came from behind her. Piper turned around and saw the girls from the park in their identical dresses.  
"What?" Piper asked.  
"We wanted to play with someone." The girl with blonde hair answered.  
"I can't play." Piper said plainly.  
"We won't let you go home." The girl with black hair said.  
"You have to let me! I am needed at home!" Piper exclaimed.  
"We want you to stay with us. Play Piper. Play. Phoebe and Prue wouldn't play. Play Piper. Play." The one with white hair said dreamily.  
"I can't play. I must go home." Piper said.  
"You'll stay. Come see the house. Play in it with us." The girl with blonde hair said.  
"I'm going home." Piper said and tried to turn to leave, but hands grabbed onto her arms and legs and pulled her down...  
Piper awoke with a start. She looked around and realized that she had dozed off. Too weird. Piper thought and grabbed her keys. She had to get home.  
**  
Phoebe was dumping the vase glass out of the dustpan and into the garbage can when she heard a moan. She rushed into the living room and looked at Todd. He was moving, but he wasn't awake. 


	2. It Ends

Alternate ending!! This is where the alternate ending happens. This chapter. I put this where the alternate ending begins, !!Alternate Ending!! Look for that. It's the same as the first one, but where that "warning" is, that's where the other ending begins. Enjoy!  
  
"False alarm." Phoebe muttered and went back into the kitchen. She picked up the phone and dialed the number for P3, but there was no answer. Phoebe put the phone down and was about to yell to Prue, but Piper came rushing in the door.  
"I had a dream! I had a dream!" Piper said energetically.  
"Calm down. About what?" Phoebe asked.  
Piper took off her coat and moved into the living room.  
"Well, I...hey, um, what's telephone repair guy doing on the couch?" Piper asked pointing to Todd.  
"Oh, a vase fell on his head. Prue's working on it right now." Phoebe explained. "Your dream?"  
"Oh right!" Piper exclaimed. "Well, like your guys' dream, the little girls were there pestering me to play with them. When I said no and tried to leave, they pulled me down. I felt like I couldn't get away, then I woke up." Piper explained.  
"This is starting to get really weird." Phoebe said.  
Piper just nodded and Todd started to mumble.  
"Hey, shhh. He's saying something." Phoebe said and leaned closer.  
"No...Get away...I won't play...Stop...This is a bad game...Let me go." Todd mumbled.  
"You don't think they...do you?" Piper asked.  
Phoebe gave her a nervous glance and yelled, "Prue!" Then they went up to the attic.  
"Piper had a dream. The girls were in her dream too. And I think they may be inside Todd's dream." Phoebe said.  
"He was mumbling in his sleep about playing." Piper finished.  
"Okay, I haven't found anything in the Book yet. I guess we need more details about them before we can vanquish them." Prue said still flipping through the pages.  
Leo orbed in.  
"You can't vanquish them." Leo said.  
"What??" Piper asked trying to comprehend.  
"You can't vanquish them. They're the Weird Sisters. They're like the children of Fate or the Sisters of Fate or whatever you want to call them, only they can't alter lives like them. They can only destroy lives with their magic. You can only escape them, never vanquish." Leo explained.  
"The Weird Sisters? But they're only kids, how can they be so evil?" Phoebe asked.  
"They are thousands of years old. They take many forms, but they mostly take the forms of children, young women, or old hags. They can also change into owls and fly away, but only when they are bordering close to defeat." Leo told them.  
"Okay, so how do we get them to fly away?" Phoebe asked.  
"It's very hard. You have to beat them in their dream world. You all need to fall asleep at the same exact time and they'll take you to the dream world. That is usually when they destroy people. Any harm done to the dream bodies is done to the physical body. You would all need to be there to defeat them." A loud scream came from downstairs. "You've got to hurry or he won't make it." Leo told her.  
"Okay. How do we fall asleep at the same time?" Piper asked.  
"I saw a spell in here...hold on." Prue said and flipped the Book's pages.  
"Here it is. It's a potion and it puts you to sleep for an hour. We've got the ingrediants, so..." Prue said and her voice trailed off.  
"An hour? You better defeat them in an hour or they'll have killed Todd and probably would have you dead in no time after they've killed him." Leo said.  
"Alright then. Phoebe, you go make the potion. Piper, you go check on Todd. Leo, go ask the Elders if they can give us any information. And I will figure something out." Prue said and everyone went to do what they had to.  
**  
A half an hour later, Phoebe had made the potion, Prue had a plan, and Leo was back.  
"I'll stay here while you're sleeping. That way if you get hurt in the dream world, it'll show up on your physical bodies and I can heal you. Good luck." Leo said and the girls sat Indian-style on the floor in the attic in a small circle. They each took a deep breath and drank the potion.  
They each felt like they were being hurled through a spiral portal. They were getting dizzy as they kept falling and falling.  
Finally, they landed very hard on the black grass.  
"Okay, why aren't we being greeted by the little devils?" Phoebe asked as she stood up. They were all feeling wobbily and their hair was in disaray.  
"I dunno." Prue replied, then they heard giggling and the little girls were standing in front of them.  
The one with white-silver hair threw a dagger at Piper, but she froze it.  
"First of all, this is for messing my hair." Prue said and flung them backwards. "Second of all, this is for that knife." Prue flung them back even further.  
The girls straightened their hair and looked at the little girls, who just stood up.  
"That was mean. Play with us." The blonde haired one said and spun around. Phoebe, Piper, and Prue felt dizzy again and the area started spinning and the colors started to spin.  
After they stopped spinning, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe found themselves in a long, stone hallway that had torches on the walls for light.  
"What a way to travel." Piper muttered.  
They heard laughter down the hallway and ran toward it.  
They found themselves in a room full of mirrors. The black haired girl appeared in a mirror.  
"Play with us." The girl said and Phoebe lunged toward the girl, but smacked into a mirror.  
The girl giggled and said, "You can't catch me." Then every mirror filled with the reflection of the black haired girl.  
One of the mirrors turned into a wooden door.  
"Go on, find me." The black haired girl said and the reflections on the mirror disappeared.  
Prue walked to the door and opened it. Seeing no danger, the sisters walked into the dim room.  
The room was a library. Rows and rows of books on tall shelves were all over the room.   
"Split up." Piper whispered and they went in different directions around the library. They would just yell if they needed help and the others would come to help.  
Piper was creeping along between two rows of books. She didn't want to make too much noise. She crept along and kept nervously glancing behind her. As she glanced behind her, she felt a sharp pain in her knee.  
She looked in front of her and saw the girl with black hair. She had a long, wooden stick and had hit Piper in the knee. The girl smiled evily and hit Piper in the knee again. Much harder.  
Piper looked down. Her pants were ripped and she could see her knee. It was bleeding badly. Piper let out a horrific yell and the girl looked at her.  
"They're playing too. You're playing with me Piper and you're sisters are playing with mine." The little girls said and hit Piper again in the knee. Piper fell onto her back and sat up with her knee bent.  
"Come to the house." The girl said and grabbed Piper's hand. Where the girl touched her hand, it felt like it was on fire. It felt like she was being branded. It was a searing hot pain. Piper cloed her eyes and she felt like she was spinning.  
Piper opened her eyes. She was in a pink bedroom. The walls, the carpet, the bedspread, everything, all different shades of pink. There were no windows. Dolls, teasets, and other girls' toys were in the room.  
The black haired girl entered the pink room.  
"Piper. Play with me." The girl commanded.  
Piper tried to stand, but her knee was horrible. There was too much pain. Why hadn't Leo healed her body?  
The girl didn't wait for Piper to say anything. She went to the bed and pulled a pink box from under it. The girl sat on her knees and opened the box.  
Piper looked and saw knives, athames, chains, a whip, shards of glass, and other things that would inflict pain or even death.  
"We'll play now." The girl said and picked up a curved knife. Piper panicked and froze her. This was the first time in a while that Piper had frozen someone out of nervousness or fear by accident.  
Piper put the back of her head against the wall and sighed. She would just have to keep freezing the girl until help came.  
The girl unfroze.  
"Naughty Piper. After we play I have to teach you a lesson." The girl said and moved further. She was only a foot away when the blonde haired girl appeared with Phoebe. Phoebe was holding the top of her head with two hands and crying. The girl pushed Phoebe and she fell.  
"I'll play with you later." The blonde girl said to Phoebe and then looked at the black haired girl. "She needs help. The old one is giving her trouble."  
The black haired girl nodded and looked at Piper.  
"I'll be back and we can finish." She said, then disappeared with the blonde haired girl.  
Piper looked at Phoebe, who was still on the floor crying and holding her head. Piper crawled over to her, careful not to let her knee touch the floor.  
"Phoebe. Shhhh. It'll be okay. Prue will come. She's fighting." Piper said. Piper set Phoebe up and hugged her. Piper looked at Phoebe head, which Phoebe was still holding, and saw a bruise. There was no blood, but the bruise looked terrible. They both sat there and Piper kept wishing that Leo would heal them or Prue would come for them.  
*  
Prue was still in the library. She kept running into the white haired girl and had to keep flinging her across the room.  
Prue walked along the book shelves. She heard whispers and hoped that it was Piper or Phoebe. She peeked around the corner of the book shelf and saw the three girls whispering. Prue moved her head so they wouldn't see and started to listen.  
"Where is she?"  
"Somewhere."  
When we find her, we'll play."  
"Yes, play."  
"I want to play with the human again."  
"No. We are playing with the witches now."  
"Yes, the witches. Once we find the third, we will play forever. The human is dying."  
"We'll play with him forever if he dies."  
"I want to finish playing with the witches."  
"We don't have to wait. She's behind that book shelf."  
Prue's eyes widened. She could hear footsteps coming closer. Prue started to run. She didn't care what direction she was going. She just wanted to get out of there. She kept running and she heard footsteps all around her.  
Prue looked back as she was running and that was a mistake. She ran right into a suit of armor. It fell on top of her and a piece of it hit her in the head and she got a small cut on her forehead. She looked up drozzily and saw the three girls standing above her.  
"I love that trick." One said.  
"She will play." Another said.  
Prue's vision began to blur and she fainted.  
*  
Piper was still sitting there hugging Phoebe. Phoebe had stopped crying so much, but she was still crying, silently now.  
All three of the girls appeared. They were standing in that annoying line of theirs. They each smiled evily and stepped aside, revealing an unconscious Prue.  
"Prue!" Piper exclaimed and Phoebe looked up.  
The three girls went and sat on the bed. Piper crawled over to Prue and checked her pulse.  
Piper looked at Phoebe, who was looking at Prue with concern, and said, "She's alive."  
Phoebe stopped crying and went over to Prue and Piper.  
"Prue. Wake up. Come on." Phoebe said and touched Prue's forehead.  
The girls giggled from the bed.  
"We played tag with her. She lost." The girl with blonde hair said.  
"We want to play with you now." The black haired girl said and went to the pink box.  
Phoebe looked over at the box and looked terrified. She looked at Piper.  
"I know." Piper said quietly as the three girls went to the box and started rummaging through it.  
The black haired girl picked up the curved knife that she had before.  
"Piper. Come here." The girl commanded. Piper didn't move. She just stared, terrified, at the girl and knife.  
"Fine. I'll make you come!" The girl said and Piper swore that the girl's eyes glowed like fire. The girl pointed at Piper, then waved her hand. Piper flew from Prue's side and smashed into the wall. Piper laid on the floor. She felt like she had a bruised rib or two. Piper rolled onto her back and tried to sit up, but there was too much pain. She put her head down on the floor and breathed heavily. The girl approached her with the knife.  
Phoebe was watching as the girl approached Piper. Phoebe wanted to go and help, but she couldn't move. She gripped Prue's hand and kept whispering for her to get up.  
The blonde haired girl moved in front of Phoebe and blocked her view of Piper.  
"Play with me." The girl said and tossed Phoebe into the closest wall. Phoebe hit it with a loud slam and tumbled to the ground. She hit her back on the wall and she propped herself up. She leaned against the wall and looked at Prue. She was still knocked out and the girl with white hair was hovering over her doing something. Phoebe tried to stand but her back hurt too much and the blonde girl approached her.  
"Phoebe, play with me. Play with me." The girl said and took a wooden club from behind her back. It had metal spikes around the top.  
Prue was fighting. She felt like she was being suspended. She was just floating in a black mass. She heard screams. Loud, pain-filled screams.  
!!Alternate Ending!!  
Prue felt nice in the black now. She liked it. It was comforting somehow for such a dark place. Just as she began to adjust to the black, she heard other screams. More screams. She hated the noise. For a minute she thought of fighting just to stop the screams, but she liked it here. Suddenly, pictures from her life flashed through her mind.  
Grams...  
The beach...  
The manor...  
Death...  
Phoebe going...  
Work...  
Phoebe coming back...  
Piper...  
Phoebe...  
Andy...  
Leo...  
Demons...  
More death...  
Her sisters...  
Sisters...  
  
Silent tears started to stream down Prue's face. This place was supposed to be pain-free. She wanted to leave now. She wanted to get away from all this...this pain.  
Prue struggled. She felt like her arms were chained to the blackness. She couldn't get away. She struggled. She would beat this. More screams. No, she would beat this. Suddenly, Prue was rushed backward. Had she beaten it? She didn't know.  
She landed hard on white. This place was pure white. Light, white, misty smoke was on the ground. She was surrounded by it. She realized she was on her back and that she should be feeling so much pain, but nothing. She felt nothing. Prue stood up. She stared around for a while and decided she liked this place. She sat back down on the ground Indian-style and closed her eyes. She smelled the air. Nothing. Somehow, she felt that was best.  
She couldn't hear the screams anymore and decided that someone must have helped. Prue thought of how nice this was. She couldn't feel. Normally that would have been a drawback, but this place seemed so right. So peaceful. Nothing could go wrong here. Nothing.  
*  
Piper froze the black haired girl and crawled over to Prue.  
"Prue, get up. Come on." Piper pleaded, but there was no response from Prue. Prue had a cut on her shoulder and it was only bleeding lightly.  
Phoebe managed to push away the girl and Piper froze them all, giving Phoebe and herself time.  
Phoebe crawled over to Prue and Piper with difficulty and looked at Prue's face. It was lifeless and pale.  
"Prue." Phoebe said.  
Piper had tears in her eyes. She was holding Prue's hand and had a finger on Prue's wrist.  
"Prue?" Phoebe asked.  
Piper nodded her head and started to cry worse than ever. Not even the pain that those little devil children had caused hurt this much.  
Phoebe joined Piper in crying and they sat there, crying over their sister.  
*  
Prue was still sitting down with her eyes closed. She enjoyed this place so much. Nothing could ruin this now. There was too much good. Prue felt total acceptance inside herself. She felt as if everything in her life turned out okay.  
Suddenly, there was a whooshing noise and Prue opened her eyes. She was annoyed by this disturbance.  
She looked around and saw that a small whirpoollike circle had appeared on the floor a few feet away. Prue became curious and walked over to it. She sat on her knees next to it and waited for it to clear.  
Finally, it stopped swirling and became a picture. An animated picture. People were moving in it. She could see herself lying on the floor. Correction. She saw her body on the floor. It was a pink room. There were two women crying over her body and Prue could just make out a frozen girl near the wall. Prue thought that these women looked familiar, but she couldn't place them. The nothing feeling of the room was much too strong to let anything else in.  
Just then, Prue heard a noise that seemed vaguely familiar. Bells? No, it wasn't bells. It sounded like twinkling bells, but Prue knew somehow knew that it was not.  
A man in a dazzling white robe had appeared. If Prue could get the nothing feeling out, she would think the man was attractive. He had sandy blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a million dollar smile.  
Prue smiled at him. She was too absorbed by the nothing feeling now that she could do nothing else.  
*  
Piper and Phoebe sat there, still crying. Piper, being brave, stopped crying and wiped her eyes. Her eyes were red and puffy and slightly blurry, but Piper would not let blurry eyes stop her from beating the children. The children that killed her sister.  
"Phoebe. We have to." Piper said simply.  
Phoebe looked at Piper with red eyes of her own and understood. She nodded and they craled over to the box full of weapons.  
"We can't use this stuff." Piper allowed a small, choked laugh. "You know Prue would want to use a spell. You know how she was." Piper smiled a little. It was one of those remembering smiles. She was not laughing out of joy. Phoebe understood and did it herself.  
"Yeah. She would have. Let's think." Phoebe said and together, they sat and thought of a spell to drive away the demon children.  
*  
The man smiled back.  
"Prue Halliwell?" The man asked.  
Prue nodded slightly. "I believe so." She said.  
"What are you looking at there?" The man asked. He was trying to make small talk. What he had to tell this soul would not be easy.  
"My body I guess. And some women." Prue replied.  
The man looked into the circle of pictures and stopped smiling. He stood over Prue and extended a hand.  
Prue took his hand and stood up. She glanced at the circle of pictures again and then looked at the man, smiling. Somehow, those pictures in there were very enthralling.  
"Prue, this part of my job is never easy." The man never did let go of Prue's hand. He gave it a small squeeze. The man swallowed hard and continued. "Before I tell you, I guess I should tell you who is telling you. First though, can we sit down?" The man gestured his hand to a bench that seemed to appear out of nowhere.  
"Yes. That'd be nice." Prue said. She was still smiling.  
They sat down on the bench. The man still held Prue's hand and they faced each other. The man wasn't smiling anymore and the twinkle had left his eyes.  
"I'm Danel. That was the easy part." The man chuckled a little, but it wasn't really a laugh at all.  
"What is it?" Prue asked. She herself had stopped smiling.  
Danel took a deep breath.  
"Prue, you're dead."  
*  
Piper and Phoebe had come up with the right spell. They were back over next to Prue and they both were holding one of her hands.  
"Ready?" Piper asked.  
Phoebe nodded and held back tears.  
They both took deep breaths and said the spell.  
"Demon children who want to play,  
You are the ones this spell will slay.  
You've killed, you've murdered,  
You've inflicted the hurt,  
But now it's your turn.  
Demon children who want to play,  
You are the ones who this spell has slain."  
The children unfroze and stared at them for a minute. The children stood and then, in a blinding flash, three owls hovered in the air.  
They flapped around the room. They dived once, but then, when they were about to dive again, they were engulfed in flames. Then they were gone.  
*  
"I'm what?" Prue asked. The nothing was seeping from her.  
"You're dead. I can think of no other way to put it Prue. It's best to be blunt with this." Danel told her.  
The nothing feeling was completely gone from Prue now and she knew. She knew who those women were.  
She rushed back to the hole and looked down. She started to cry. Tears ran down her face and a few even hit the hole and vanished.  
"PIPER! PHOEBE!" Prue screamed. Her nose was practically touching the hole full of pictures. She screamed their names again and again.  
"They can't hear you." Danel said.  
Prue backed away from the hole. She stared at it crying. She couldn't see the pictures anymore, but she knew they were still there.  
"Piper." Prue choked. "Phoebe."  
She began to cry silently. Danel kneeled down next to her.  
"I'm sorry. I don't know what to-"  
Danel was cut off by the familiar twinkling bell sound.  
"You can go." A voice said. Prue didn't even look behind her. She knew who it was.  
Danel gave a look of sadness and touched Prue's shoulder.  
"It'll be okay." He whispered and orbed out.  
The person came over to Prue and kneeled by her.  
"Leo, they're-I'm...why?" Was all Prue could say. Why?  
Prue really didn't want an answer. She didn't know if she could handle one. She just leaned her head onto Leo's chest. She kept staring in the direction of the hole.  
*  
Piper and Phoebe sat in silence for a while. They never let go of Prue's hands. Suddenly, a door appeared in the room.  
"Do you think we should?" Phoebe asked.  
Piper nodded.  
Piper opened the door and looked through it. It was their attic. At least an overview of it.  
They could see their bodies lying on the floor and three cups next to them.  
"Where's Leo?" Phoebe asked. Leo was not in the attic.  
"I don't know. I'm sure it's very important." Piper replied.  
"Should we go through?" Phoebe asked.  
"It's probably our way out." Piper replied.  
They went back and brought Prue's body to the door. They each kissed their fingers, then placed them on Prue's cold cheeks.  
"Even here she's cold." Phoebe said.  
"She's warm in heaven though." Piper said and smiled at Prue. They gently pushed Prue through the door.  
They both watched as no movemen came from her body.  
"I'll go." Piper said and went through the door herself.  
Phoebe watched through the door. Nothing happened with Piper's body either.  
"Must be like the potion. Three at the same time." Phoebe said with tears in her eyes, then she two went through the door.  
*  
Prue was still crying on Leo.  
"Make it go away." Prue said.  
Leo knew she was talking about that hole. The hole that showed her her sisters in pain...crying.  
Leo waved his hand and the swirling went backwards and the hole was gone. It could no longer show her their pain.  
"What happens now?" Prue asked. For some reason, her eyes were still stuck on the spot where the hole was.  
"You go to heaven and be with the others." Leo replied.  
"What happens to Piper and Phoebe?" Prue asked him. This was the only question she really, truly wanted an answer to.  
"Pain." Leo replied. He felt Prue wince. "They will move on. They will overcome it. You know them. You'l lalways be in their hearts." Leo assured her.  
"And them in mine." Prue replied simply.  
"There is hope Prue. They will continue. They will find someone to carry on the power." Leo said.  
Prue was glad that her sisters would not be vulnerable to demons. She did not want this for them.  
"It's time to go." Leo said. Prue nodded and Leo took her hand and orbed her. Orbed her to heaven.  
*  
Piper and Phoebe were up. They were searching for signs of life in Prue, but the dream came true. It did happen.  
"Why?" Was all Phoebe could ask and think.  
"I don't know." Piper replied and tears filled both their eyes.  
Before a single tear could fall though, Leo orbed in.  
Piper was filled with so much, grief, anger, guilt, sadness. Her emotions overcame her and she stood up and went to Leo. She pounded her fists on his chest and yelled, "Where the hell where you?!?"  
Leo hugged Piper. He knew she didn't mean it.  
"I was with Prue." Leo told her.  
Phoebe let go of Prue's hand and stood up.  
"Where is she?" Phoebe asked.  
"She is where she belongs now." Leo replied.  
"No. She belongs with us." Piper said.  
"Not anymore. She told me to tell you that she loves you and you will always be in her heart." Leo told them.  
"And her in ours." Phoebe said softly. 


End file.
